Voting is not only a right but is also one of the most important tenants of any democracy. Voting is one of the few ways that we can participate in our democracy. Whether that be directly through propositions or indirectly through the election of representatives, voting is important if we want out voices to be heard. Even if one vote cannot sway a national election there are still plenty of reason why you should vote.
As a young person do you ever get the feeling that Congress isn’t listening to your concerns and are only paying attention to people that are way older than you? One reason for this is because more older people tend to vote than younger people.

There is a reason why politicians can talk about raising the rates for student loans but do not dare to talk about cutting social security.  It is because they will get voted out of office. In the 2010 midterm elections people between the ages of 18-24 only had a voting percentage of 21.3 percent compared to those that were 75 years and over, who had a voting percentage of 59.2 percent.

This led to the older group having 5 million more people going to the polls despite the younger group outnumbering them 28.9 million to 17.6 million. This is just one reason why voting is important because if politicians knew that younger people voted constantly then that would lead to them listening to the concerns of the younger generation.

Every election is important, beginning at school boards  and going up to the presidency. Each level of government has a different impact on our lives. Even though the presidential election is important, local election can have an even bigger impact on your life. Local elections will often be held during odd times and yet their outcomes can be affected by a small margin of votes. Local elections are important because local government will provide the services closest to you and the elections will determine who will be in charge. It won’t be the federal government that provides water, garbage disposal, road repairs or fire protection but a town, county or even a special district. By voting in local elections you make sure that you have a say in how those services are being provided. One particular example is here on Long Island, where. schools are run by an elected board of education. This is important because Long Islanders pays high property taxes to support heir schools and it is the job of the board of education to draft up a budget each year. So by voting in these local elections residents can actually have big say in how their local communities are run.

Another important aspect of local elections is that politicians have to get their start somewhere. For example, Joe Biden started off as a member on the County Council for New Castle in Delaware and Barack Obama was a state senator in Illinois. By voting in local elections we can help determine who will be next in line to run federal or national office.